Justice At Risk: War Crimes Trials In Croatia, Bosnia And Herzegovina, And Serbia And Montenegro

By: Human Rights Watch

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Synopsis: The armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s were characterized by widespread violations of human rights and humanitarian law. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) will have adjudicated only a relatively small number of cases involving the most serious crimes by the time it ceases operating. All other war crimes cases -whether initiated domestically or referred back from the ICTY-will have to be tried by national courts in the states of the former Yugoslavia. Human Rights Watch has carried out extensive monitoring of domestic war crimes trials in the states of the former Yugoslavia. The monitoring indicates that, as a rule, the ordinary national courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (particularly in Republika Srpska, one of the two "entities" in Bosnia and Herzegovina), Croatia, and Serbia and Montenegro are not currently equipped to hear war crimes cases-which are often politically and emotionally charged, as well as legally complex-in a fair manner. Key obstacles include: bias on the part of judges and prosecutors, poor case preparation by prosecutors, inadequate cooperation from the police in the conduct of investigations, poor cooperation between the states on judicial matters, and ineffective witness protection mechanisms.

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